We requested trade consultants to share the position networking has performed in constructing their private model — and the way networking has opened doorways for them. Discover ways to remodel your strategy to networking and elevate your private model by constructing real relationships, leveraging social media, and creating mutually useful partnerships.
- Construct Real Relationships By way of Shared Values
- Group Involvement Sparks Surprising Alternatives
- Lead with Generosity to Gas Model Development
- Domesticate Belief By way of Constant Worth Addition
- Prioritize High quality Connections Over Amount
- Leverage Social Media for Genuine Engagement
- Concentrate on Helpfulness Quite Than Promoting
- Remodel Informal Encounters into Enterprise Partnerships
- Flip Curiosity into Lengthy-Time period Skilled Relationships
- Strategic LinkedIn Engagement Builds Trade Credibility
- Foster Supportive Communities for Mutual Development
- Align Connections with Skilled Values
- Personalize Outreach for Significant Conversations
- Create Mutually Helpful Partnership Networks
- Diversify Connections By way of Focused Occasions
- Set up Thought Management through Digital Platforms
- Nurture Relationships for Surprising Alternatives
17 Networking and Private Branding Tales
Construct Real Relationships By way of Shared Values
Networking for me has by no means been about accumulating enterprise playing cards — it’s been about real relationships that develop naturally via shared work and values. As somebody who has rotated legislation corporations for over 15 years, my most beneficial connections have come from being genuinely invested in different individuals’s success.
An ideal instance is my involvement with NELA (Nationwide Employment Attorneys Affiliation). After I spoke at their 2020 digital conference about “Find out how to Do Good Work & Do Properly,” I wasn’t there to pitch my providers. I shared actual methods about trust-building and work-life stability that I had realized via blood, sweat, and tears working my very own firm via a pandemic whereas protecting all my staff employed.
That genuine strategy led to a number of legislation agency partnerships throughout the nation as a result of attorneys may see I truly cared about their success, not simply touchdown one other shopper. One agency from that convention turned a six-figure shopper just because they trusted my “no matter you plant, you harvest” philosophy I shared throughout the presentation.
The Reddit-worthy perception: your experience shared freely creates extra alternatives than any elevator pitch ever will. Whenever you genuinely assist others succeed first, the enterprise relationships observe naturally.
Nicole Farber
CEO, Nicole Farber
Group Involvement Sparks Surprising Alternatives
Presenting with my son at 1Million Cups was an absolute game-changer for us. That one second really opened doorways we by no means may have anticipated. We related with an incredible particular person who launched us to Professional Athlete Inc. — a improbable native sporting items producer and distributor. Not solely did Professional Athlete Inc. step in as a mentor, guiding us via tough trade terrain, however our connection blossomed right into a invaluable wholesale partnership. All of those alternatives grew from the easy act of sharing our journey with our group.
My recommendation to everybody: get on the market and get entangled in your native occasions! Don’t hesitate to share your experience or present tasks. The connections you’ll make, the surprising alternatives that emerge, and the real assist you give and obtain may be really transformative. Typically, by connecting with others and being prepared to assist, you uncover simply the precise encouragement and sources you want on your personal path.
Now, as I look again, I really feel extremely blessed to leverage all these private experiences — each the challenges and the wins — to assist different entrepreneurs as a model advisor at The Private Model Studio by Shea Images. There’s nothing extra rewarding than utilizing what I’ve realized to assist others as they launch their very own small companies and private manufacturers. Watching my purchasers’ concepts turn into actuality fills me with each gratitude and inspiration — proof that group, connection, and a willingness to share your story can flip risk into success.
Brandi Russell
Private Model Technique Marketing consultant, The Private Model Studio by Shea Images
Lead with Generosity to Gas Model Development
Networking is the engine of my model, as I try to steer with generosity by spotlighting different feminine founders, sharing sensible insights, and following up with clear subsequent steps. One instance: after I profiled an entrepreneur on my platform, she launched me to a convention organizer. That heat introduction became a paid workshop, a partner-media function, and a wave of certified shopper inquiries inside weeks. The takeaway: be the connector first, make it simple for individuals to say sure, and shut the loop shortly so momentum doesn’t die on the vine.
Kristin Marquet
Founder & Inventive Director, Marquet Media
Domesticate Belief By way of Constant Worth Addition
Networking has formed my profession greater than any marketing campaign or advert spend ever may. One instance that stands out was at an IT convention earlier this 12 months. I sat down with somebody over espresso, and as an alternative of doing the same old card swap, we had a real dialog concerning the challenges we had been each seeing in hiring for AI-related roles. We saved in contact afterward, sharing articles, sending fast notes once we noticed one thing related, nothing compelled. A number of months later, that very same contact launched me to a shopper who wanted assist scaling their dev staff. That introduction became one among our most profitable collaborations this 12 months.
The lesson for me was that it’s not about networking occasions or “working the room.” It’s about staying genuinely curious and following up in a approach that provides worth. That consistency builds belief. Over time, individuals keep in mind you not on your pitch, however for the conversations the place you listened, related dots, and made their lives simpler. That’s how I’ve constructed each my private model and lasting enterprise alternatives.
Ann Kuss
CEO, Outstaff Your Workforce
Prioritize High quality Connections Over Amount
Networking has been key in creating my private model, not simply by way of getting my identify on the market but additionally by way of gaining respect within the enterprise world. I don’t consider it as a transaction however as creating relationships. Each connection is an opportunity to pay attention, share concepts, and add worth to one another. Being constant within the correct conversations and making an actual contribution has performed extra for my popularity than any promoting marketing campaign may.
One instance that stands out is once I went to a small trade roundtable about digital transformation. I didn’t anticipate a lot stepping into, however after a considerate dialog with one other participant, I used to be launched to a big B2B firm that was having bother selecting an company. That introduction finally led to a collaboration that not solely helped us get extra purchasers, but it surely additionally supplied me the chance to talk at extra conferences about digital innovation. It was a stark reminder that individuals, not pitches, are usually those who provide you with alternatives.
The lesson for me is easy: if you happen to strategy your community like a group as an alternative of a Rolodex, it’s going to assist your private model. It nearly all the time pays off in methods you possibly can’t predict to construct belief and ship worth initially.
Gianluca Ferruggia
Basic Supervisor, DesignRush
Leverage Social Media for Genuine Engagement
Networking has formed my private model, however not as a way of accumulating contacts. Whenever you’re glorious at your craft, deep, agenda-free relationships kind naturally; I deal with networking as a accountability to create worth first. I prioritize fewer, higher-quality ties, constant follow-through, and rooting for the opposite individual’s success.
This strategy paid off years later: relationships I constructed whereas engaged on innovation and know-how for the Authorities of Minas Gerais helped me launch Acelera Neves, connecting me to early funding, serving to assemble the core staff, and even main me to my co-founders. The initiative then earned important press protection, amplifying my model far past my instant circle. Doorways open when individuals keep in mind the way you confirmed up for them, reliably and with out a hidden agenda. High quality over quantity; service over self-promotion.
Karina Romano
Head of Advertising, TaikaTranslations
Concentrate on Helpfulness Quite Than Promoting
Networking has been basic to constructing my private model, notably via the strategic use of social media platforms. Over twenty years in the past, I started leveraging social media to attach with entrepreneurs throughout the nation, regardless of being based mostly in a small metropolis with restricted native alternatives. This strategy allowed me to construct credibility and belief with potential purchasers with out requiring important monetary funding.
The relationships shaped via constant on-line networking straight translated into natural gross sales and created quite a few enterprise alternatives that might have been inconceivable via conventional native networking alone. What proved most beneficial was specializing in genuine relationship constructing relatively than direct promoting, which established a basis of belief that continues to assist my model immediately.
Heidi Cortez
Entrepreneur, Heidi Cortez Teaching LLC
Remodel Informal Encounters into Enterprise Partnerships
Networking has been completely essential, particularly in our relationship-driven trade.
One particular instance: again in 2012, I attended a neighborhood Chamber of Commerce mixer and struck up a dialog with somebody who talked about they had been annoyed with their present video vendor.
As a substitute of instantly pitching our providers, I simply listened and provided some free recommendation about their video technique.
Six months later, they known as once they had been prepared for a brand new accomplice, and that relationship has generated over $300,000 in enterprise and led to referrals to a few different corporations of their community.
The lesson I realized is that networking isn’t about promoting — it’s about constructing real relationships and being useful first.
Andre Oentoro
CEO and Founder, Breadnbeyond
Flip Curiosity into Lengthy-Time period Skilled Relationships
A part of my position as a CEO entails being the face of our firm. This requires me to attend conferences and occasions to construct our model, and also you by no means know what alternatives can come up via the individuals you meet. I used to be just lately at a nationwide convention and attended an occasion for different entrepreneurs in my metropolis. There, I bumped into one among our present companions who was having a dialogue with a colleague of theirs. They kindly launched me, and I shortly realized that this individual might be a possible accomplice for us too. They had been in control of working an academic session for individuals in our goal market and had been in search of an skilled speaker. Based mostly on having constructed a powerful relationship, our present accomplice strongly advisable me for the chance. From that session, we met a number of purchasers and developed a brand new pipeline for leads.
Roshni Wijayasinha
CEO, Prosh Advertising
Strategic LinkedIn Engagement Builds Trade Credibility
I launched into a cross-country RV journey to interview over 300 individuals about their profession paths. These conversations weren’t supposed for “networking” — however an inadvertent good thing about the journey was that I shaped the muse of my skilled community and enterprise philosophy that guides me immediately.
A type of interviews in 2006 became one among my most beneficial connections, nearly twenty years later. The interviewee skilled important enterprise success after our interview and agreed to turn into an official advisor of Featured — regardless of my not having any contact with him all through these twenty years.
The underside line: doing one thing attention-grabbing and creating connections alongside the journey helps you make significant relationships. It’s wonderful how a real, curious dialog can blossom right into a lifelong connection that spans many years and creates alternatives neither individual may have imagined in the beginning.
Brett Farmiloe
CEO, Featured
Foster Supportive Communities for Mutual Development
Networking has been basic to constructing my private model by creating significant connections with trade friends and potential collaborators. I’ve discovered that strategic engagement on LinkedIn particularly has been one among my handiest brand-building approaches. My methodology entails taking time to have interaction thoughtfully with content material in my area of interest, leaving substantive feedback that display experience relatively than generic responses.
After these interactions, I ship personalised connection requests that reference our particular engagement level, which establishes credibility and exhibits real curiosity. This strategy has persistently opened doorways to new partnerships and alternatives as a result of individuals respect the genuine connection relatively than feeling like simply one other quantity in a contact listing. The relationships constructed via this intentional networking technique have straight contributed to my visibility and popularity within the trade.
George Fironov
Co-Founder & CEO, Talmatic
Align Connections with Skilled Values
The best way my private model developed was basically completely different from what one often expects. As a substitute of simply amassing contacts, I fostered a few of these relationships in real methods by attending trade gatherings, actively participating on LinkedIn, and dealing in shared areas. These actions often paved the way in which for large alternatives. Whereas I usually received’t spotlight one occasion, I’ve seen time and time once more how a honest advice or a well-thought-out follow-up created lasting partnerships, drew new followers, or invited contract work. These connections usually opened doorways to collaborations that I had by no means anticipated.
By nurturing these relationships, I discovered that networking turned much less about self-promotion and extra about constructing a supportive group that thrives on mutual progress and shared success. Gaining this reservoir of confidence over time is, in essence, what creates the notion of the model that you just now witness, not a single achievement.
Bhavik Sarkhedi
Founder & CEO, Ohh My Model
Personalize Outreach for Significant Conversations
Networking has been important in constructing my private model as a result of it’s not nearly visibility — it’s about creating real relationships rooted in shared values. One particular instance was connecting with a purposeful medication practitioner who resonated with my work round nervous system regulation. What started as an off-the-cuff dialog became an invite to collaborate, which opened doorways to working together with her purchasers and increasing my attain in a approach I couldn’t have performed alone. That have strengthened for me that networking is strongest while you present up authentically and concentrate on connection, not transaction.
Karen Canham
Entrepreneur/Board Licensed Well being and Wellness Coach, Karen Ann Wellness
Create Mutually Helpful Partnership Networks
Networking has been basic to constructing my private model by creating genuine connections that align with my skilled values. I’ve discovered success with a strategic strategy to networking via direct messages that focuses on personalization relatively than generic outreach. My course of entails crafting individualized connection notes that display I’ve performed my homework concerning the individual I’m reaching out to, which instantly units a basis of respect.
I then share thought-provoking DEI articles that mirror my skilled values and create significant dialog starters. To stability professionalism with character, I sometimes embrace a tasteful meme that breaks the ice and exhibits there’s a human behind the message. This personalised networking strategy has persistently opened doorways to new shopper relationships and alternatives that wouldn’t have materialized via conventional networking channels.
Vivian Acquah CDE
Licensed Inclusion Strategist, Amplify DEI
Diversify Connections By way of Focused Occasions
Networking has been basic to constructing my private model by creating significant relationships that stretch past instant enterprise transactions. When scaling our enterprise, I discovered that deliberately rising a community of white-label partnerships with companies and consultants in associated digital advertising fields turned our handiest progress technique. These networking relationships opened important doorways by offering entry to established shopper lists that might have taken years to develop independently. Moreover, these partnerships created new income streams whereas concurrently decreasing our gross sales overhead and bettering shopper retention charges. What I’ve realized is that genuine networking isn’t nearly accumulating contacts, however about creating mutually useful relationships the place each events can leverage one another’s strengths.
Jack Genesin
search engine marketing Marketing consultant, Jack Genesin Consulting
Set up Thought Management through Digital Platforms
I began creating my very own networking occasions, particularly to fulfill new individuals, join with them on a deeper stage, and trade concepts.
For me, networking at particular occasions is the very best. It is advisable know the place you wish to go.
I particularly select to attend entrepreneurial occasions with a blended entrepreneur crowd to fulfill individuals from various backgrounds and industries.
This opened many doorways professionally; I made new pals and exchanged concepts I wouldn’t have in a unique setting.
John Talasi
Entrepreneur, John Talasi
Nurture Relationships for Surprising Alternatives
Networking has been basic to constructing my private model by creating significant connections with trade friends and potential collaborators. LinkedIn has served as my major platform for skilled networking, permitting me to have interaction with thought leaders and keep present with trade developments. By way of constant engagement and sharing of insights on LinkedIn, I’ve been in a position to set up credibility and visibility inside my skilled group. The platform has supplied alternatives to attach with like-minded professionals who share comparable targets and pursuits. These connections have led to invaluable conversations and relationship-building that stretch past the digital house.
Angela Ash
Digital PR Specialist, Stream Company
